TYLER, Texas — Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous sect who was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month after being found guilty of child sexual assault, was sedated but no longer in a coma Tuesday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Jeffs, 55, who had been fasting in his cell at a prison in Palestine, Texas, became so weak as a result that on Sunday he was moved to a medical facility in Tyler, Texas, where doctors induced a coma.

He said Jeffs was “somewhat sedated” but responsive, and remained in critical condition.

Jeffs was convicted on Aug. 4 of sexually abusing two girls, aged 12 and 15, whom he took as his brides. He was sentenced on Aug. 9 to life in prison for one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and 20 years in prison for one count of sexual assault of a child. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

He fired his attorneys and chose to represent himself early in the trial, telling the court his lawyers could not represent his “true defense,” the Tribune reported.

Jeffs — the one-time leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has about 10,000 members — was convicted in 2007 of forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin, but the Utah Supreme Court overturned the conviction last year, citing faulty juror instructions.

While serving a prison sentence in Utah for the forced marriage, Jeffs was treated in the prison infirmary in February 2008 after engaging in a fast, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. He told prison staff at the time that he was fasting for “spiritual strength.”